Offensive tackles fail to impress in bench press at combine

The Houston Texans are in dire need of offensive tackle help. Both primary starters from 2017, Chris Clark and Breno Giacomini, are free agents, and youngster Julie'n Davenport didn't exactly set the world on fire as a rookie.

Author:
Jeff Risdon / Texans Wire

Published:
8:42 AM CST March 2, 2018

Updated:
8:42 AM CST March 2, 2018

The Houston Texans are in dire need of offensive tackle help. Both primary starters from 2017, Chris Clark and Breno Giacomini, are free agents, and youngster Julie’n Davenport didn’t exactly set the world on fire as a rookie.

If one of the traits the Texans and OL coach Mike Devlin values is brute upper body strength, they’re likely to be disappointed. Here at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, the offensive tackles did not impress in the bench press drill.

Thursday was the first day for the workout drills, and the offensive linemen went first on the bench press, followed by the running backs. The interior linemen did as expected, but many of the tackles struggled with the 225-pound weight.

Some of the underwhelming number of reps from more prominent tackles:

Jamarco Jones, 10

Orlando Brown, 14

Tyrell Crosby, 17

Chuks Okorafor, 19

Geron Christian, 19

Desmond Harrison of West Georgia, a projected late-round pick, posted just 10. That’s the same total of Brandon Parker of North Carolina A&T.

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It’s not a deal-killer by any means, but the lack of prodigious upper-body strength will need to be offset by better agility or very strong technique.